MICROFINANCE EVENT: Sa-Dhan National Conference; September 16-17, 2019; New Delhi, India

The 20th annual iteration of this event offers sessions such as “Insurance: the Missing Link in Financial Inclusion;” “Augmenting Good Governance and Promoting Respectable Finance;” “Integrating Digital Finance, Strengthening Cybersecurity;” and “Microfinance and Clean Energy: Untapped Opportunity.” Speakers represent organizations including the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development

MICROFINANCE EVENT: 9th Annual Uniglobal Central Asian and Caucasus Microfinance Forum; October 3 – 4, 2019; Tbilisi, Georgia

This conference will focus on “transparency, regulations, transformation of [the] microfinance industry, social reporting standards, investment, risk and asset management, and innovation” in the Central and Western Asia. Sessions will cover topics including

MICROFINANCE EVENT : Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) Investor Forum 2019; October 2-3, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

This summit provides impact investors opportunities to attend seminars and discussions on the following themes: Market Development, Product Development, Environment, Integrating Impact and Inclusion & Diversity. Sample session topics include the role of “aggregate data” in impact investing, sustainable housing and the future of impact investing in China. The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) defines impact investing as “investments made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate social and environmental impact

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Investor Forum: “Responsible Finance for Digital Inclusion: Investing for Impact;” April 3 – 4, 2019; Washington DC, USA

This forum is intended to bring together a wide range of investors to share insights on “social performance and impact management,” particularly as related to digital financial services (DFS). This will include discussions of the Guidelines for Investing in Responsible Digital Financial Services, which were established in 2018. These 10 guidelines cover

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Global Youth Economic Opportunities Summit: “The Opportunity Puzzle: Piecing It Together to Help Youth Learn, Earn and Thrive;” October 1 – 4, 2019; Washington, DC, USA

The thirteenth annual iteration of the Global Youth Economic Opportunities (YEO) Summit will focus on

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Global Money Transfer Summit (GMTS); March 26 – 27, 2019; Cape Town, South Africa

This summit is meant to “promote innovative opportunities between the international cross-border remittance services and local payment systems in Africa.” Its themes include fintech (financial technology), regulation and the impact of cryptocurrency. Panel sessions will address topics such as barriers to mobile money transfers, various case studies, and potential synergies between postal systems and digital financial services. The International Association of Money Transfer Networks (IAMTN) plans

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Skoll World Forum; April 9-12, 2019; Oxford, England

The Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship is intended to advance entrepreneurial solutions to social problems. Although this year’s agenda has not been released, sessions from recent years covered topics such as public-private financing initiatives for investing in underserved markets, financial innovation for inclusive business, and funding impact at scale through market segmentation.

MICROFINANCE EVENT: LendIt Fintech USA; April 8-9, 2019; San Francisco, California, United States

This conference on financial services innovation will cover topics such as the digitization of credit unions and community banks, payments innovation for small businesses, small business lending innovation, blockchain in financial services, financial health and inclusion, and policy and regulation.

MICROFINANCE EVENT: 8th Global Islamic Microfinance Forum; November 25-26, 2018; Dubai, UAE

Event Summary: The goal of the Global Islamic Microfinance Forum is to increase awareness of Islamic finance as a viable option to help people, particularly those with low incomes. Instead of using conventional interest payments, Islamic lenders employ concepts such as profit and loss sharing.

The forum will include sessions on funding challenges, the Qarz E-Hassan

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) Hosting “Getting Inclusion Right;” November 1, 2018; Washington, DC, USA

In recognition of its tenth anniversary, the US-based Center for Financial Inclusion will hold this event to consider how it and its partners will move forward in their work to promote the availability and usage of appropriate financial services. The agenda will include discussion of how increased access to financial services can lead to improved quality of life for customers and what sorts of risks customers need protection against

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Finance for Refugees: “Making it Work;” September 7, 2018; The Hague, the Netherlands

Organized by the NpM Platform for Inclusive Finance, which was formerly known as the Netherlands Platform for Microfinance, this event will explore ways financial service providers can deliver products and services to refugee communities. One of the primary goals of the conference is to encourage private-sector investment in financial inclusion for refugees

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Sa-Dhan National Conference: “Propelling the Growth of the Informal Sector through Microfinance;” September 19-20, 2018; New Delhi, India

The aim of this event is to continue discussions on how to realize the goals of Pradhaan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, India’s national financial inclusion program. This year’s gathering will focus on how microfinance institutions (MFIs) can use technology to expand their outreach to more low-income customers.

MICROFINANCE EVENT: 14th International Microinsurance Conference: “Inclusive Insurance for Emerging Markets;” November 6 – 8, 2018; Lusaka, Zambia

Speakers at this year’s event will explore strategies to expand the growth and the accessibility of microinsurance services in emerging economies. Although the details of this year’s agenda are still under development, last year’s edition covered topics such as the role of microinsurance in economic development and digital technologies for microinsurance.

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Foromic: Reinventing Inclusion; October 29 – 31, 2018; Barranquilla, Colombia

Organized by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group and the government of Colombia, this year’s Foromic is themed “Reinventing Inclusion.” Speakers will discuss how new business models and technologies are affecting financial inclusion and entrepreneurial opportunity in Latin America. Although the detailed agenda for the event is still under development, the organizers have

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Remittance Africa 2018: “Unlocking Opportunities in Money Transfer and Payment Systems in Africa;” October 23-24, 2018; Lagos, Nigeria

Event Summary: Themed “Unlocking Opportunities in Money Transfer and Payment Systems in Africa,” this event is intended is “to create a continental dialogue on deepening the remittance and payment ecosystems in Africa.” Attendees representing electronic payment providers, financial service providers,

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) Investor Forum; October 30-31, 2018; Paris, France

At this year’s forum, representatives of the impact investing industry will discuss the following themes: (1) Climate and the Environment, which includes ways capital markets can realize the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement of 2016;

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Microfinance Centre-European Microfinance Network (MFC-EMN) Annual Conference; October 3-5, 2018; Bilbao, Spain

Co-hosted by the Poland-based Microfinance Centre (MFC) and the Belgium-based European Microfinance Network (EMN), this event’s theme for 2018 is “People and the Digital Revolution: Advancing Our Social Mission through Technology.” Although the agenda of conference is still in development, it will include